Knox Co. kids head to D.C. to help Michelle Obama plant garden

FILE - In this June 23, 2012 file photo, first lady Michelle Obama gives the keynote address to the African Methodist Episcopal Church general conference in Nashville, Tenn. There are conflicting reports about threatening comments a police officer may have made about first lady Michelle Obama, the District of Columbia police chief said Friday, July 13, 2012. The department and the Secret Service are investigating an allegation of what it says were "inappropriate comments" about the first lady, allegedly made this week by a city officer who worked as a member of a motor escort for the White House. (AP Photo/Donn Jones)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Students form Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy in Knoxville are headed to the nation's capital to help First Lady Michelle Obama plant her White House Kitchen Garden.

The academy was one of just five schools in the country selected to participate in the annual Spring event. The White House picked Sarah Moore Greene after school officials revamped their menus with the help of parents and students. They also came up with new ways encourage kids to eat their fruits and vegetables.

Last fall, students broke ground on the Jefferson Heirloom Garden. But, it wasn't all about growing crops. The garden was used to help teach 3rd-5th grade social studies students about U.S. history, especially American presidents who liked to garden and focused on land stewardship.

This is the fifth year the first lady planted a vegetable garden in the South Lawn to help spur a national conversation about nutrition and well-being. That effort eventually evolved into the Let's Move! campaign, which aims to solve childhood obesity within a generation.

The other three schools sending students to to Washington are: Benjamin David Gullett Elementary School, Manatee County Schools in Bradentown Florida; Arthur D. Healey School, Somerville Public Schools in Somerville Mass.; Milton Elementary School, Milton Town School District in Milton, Vermont.

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